Tarcua
Tarcua was a lupogryph from far north-east Hakor and a previous Hunter. He was a friend to High Priest Aaron and Sabra the Incarnate. History The Hunters When Tarcua was 19, he had left his Kuuti tribe and family and joined the Hunters. He gained the gift to extract manna and had a dubious fervency for the Golden One. When he was 20 years old, he brought a shipment of Fireleaf to Zanoll and was captured by the military. He was imprisoned in Fort Le'vani and examined by Avril. By that time he had gained a great addiction for manna, and hardly ate normal food. He was very hard to approach, as he liked to jump at the opportunity to extract. Incarnate Journey Tarcua met High Priest Aaron and at first wanted to suck manna out of the High Priest. Aaron at first condemned Tarcua for his behavior, but then sought a way to help Yuquer and Tarcua with their outside addictions. Aaron consulted Zarem and Luna on the matter, and learned he could use the Sunstone to "burn" the power to extract out of Tarcua. Aaron meditated for three days to store energy from the Sunstone, and then used physical contact on Tarcua to force the divine energy into the wingless Hakaan. It was very painful for Tarcua, and caused the lupogryph to become deathly afraid of Aaron for some time. However, Aaron watched over Tarcua's recovery over the next few weeks and came to befriend Tarcua. Aaron noted during Tarcua's parole and recovery that he was trying to use elemental magic. Avril tested Tarcua and they both discovered he was a metal mage. He was soon assigned to the blacksmith Chuck Blaehr to help with minor weapon repairs. Later, a Zanollian war craft pulled into Le'vani, having been attacked by pirates. Tarcua, Chuck, and several other sentients went aboard to do repairs on the hull, when Tarcua discovered a young pirate of the Sea Eyes hiding in a storage closet below deck. He brought the pirate back to the Fort to help cement the tender trust he had between himself and the command of the Fort. Soon after this incident, Aaron received word from Zarem to send Tarcua to Hakor to assist Sabra. Aaron consulted this revelation with Alistair the Affable, Avril, and captain Vine. They agreed to let him return to Hakor. On the way to Hakor, Tarcua met Whitney, and together they traveled to Hope Islands and [Port. On the way, he took the silver plate under his jaw, manipulated its shape, and implanted it into his back in the shape of a bursting star to indicate a position of a Hunter slave. When at the Port, Tarcua learned that Whitney appeared to be more than she seemed, although he couldn't say exactly what, and that she was a sorceress. They both transported to the Teller's Grove outside the Lunar Temple, and soon met Kratchek, Valer, and Fran, who had been sent by Kiaser to find Sabra. They joined forces and made a plan to get Tarcua into the Hunter tunnels. They managed to get Tarcua in without incident, and Tarcua learned that Sabra was imprisoned and had been tortured by means of ceremonial extraction. He quickly managed to find her and told her about how Aaron had "healed" him using the Sunstone. Sabra deduced she could store power from the Moonstone and do the same thing to the Golden One, except with enough power to completely destroy him. Tarcua visited Sabra several times after that, retrieving her taken Adel and dagger. Eventually he left the tunnels in time before Sabra rampaged through them, destroying most of the Hunters she came across. He helped Sabra recover after that, and stayed with her as she redeemed the Lunar Temple. He became a member of the new guild she established, and left for a time to visit his family in the Kuuti lands in northern Hakor. Description Tarcua had cream-white feathers and gray fur. He had no wings, which had been removed when he became a Hunter. He had grass green eyes, and red scales and beak. Personality Tarcua showed a great amount of loyalty to Aaron and Sabra, although he hardly knew the latter when he left to find her. He was determined to make up for his mistakes. He was no fool, though, and was willing to question things he didn't understand. Category:Characters Category:Heroes